Know Your Faux

A Couple Discover The Joys Of Stonelike Finishes As They Give Their Dining Area A Rustic, Earth-tone Makeover.

December 19, 2004

WINTER GARDEN -- Craig and Andrea Morhack knew exactly what they wanted to do to improve their dining room -- install a chair rail and paint a faux finish underneath, preferably in a dark, rich color.

Then they met Kathy Bailey.

The painter and faux-finish artist, who agreed to offer them advice for the House Call feature, introduced them to the joys of earth tones and rustic-looking texturized stone finishes.

So instead of a chair rail with color underneath, they now have faux stone in the entryway and in a niche in the hall. They also made three "frames" from thin lengths of molding, attached them to the large wall in the dining area and applied faux stone inside.

All are done in an earthy brown-gold mix that imparts a warm Tuscan feel to their Winter Garden home. They also faux-painted a column in the entryway, as well as a new ceiling medallion chosen to coordinate with their new chandelier.

They're pleased with the results -- though the work was a little more than they bargained for.

"I am very happy with the way the project turned out," Andrea said afterward. "It ended up taking a little more time and being more work than I thought, but I think the results are definitely worth it."

GUYS' THING

Because the Morhacks had a two-part project, House Call asked two consultants to help: Bailey of Ocoee for the faux finish and painting, and carpenter Randy Dale of Christmas for the chair rail.

The consultants and homeowners split into pairs. Craig drew the chair-rail assignment first. He learned how to locate and mark studs, measure the height of the rail on the wall and cut 45-degree angles in the chair-rail stock they bought at a home store.

Dale brought his electric saw for teaching purposes, but Craig and Andrea had to use a small hand miter box for the rest of the job.

Craig discovered three important things during the chair-rail process. The studs were farther apart than usual; they were made of metal; and hammering nails into metal studs is really loud.

Metal studs also don't hold as well as the standard wood variety. Dale advised Craig to use a liquid adhesive to make sure the rail stays on.

"Steel studs are a problem when you don't glue," Dale said.

Craig concentrated hard on the details. With Dale's help, the homeowner had the measurements done, the studs located, all the necessary markings on the wall and the first section of railing up in a little less than an hour.

When all of the railing is up, Dale told Craig, caulk it before you paint it.

Use a bead of caulk "the size of angel hair pasta," he advised.

He also suggested buying the dripless caulking gun. It costs a little more, he said, but when you take your finger off the trigger, it stops pushing the caulk out, which makes for a much neater application.

GALS' THING

While the men wrestled with the railing, Bailey showed Andrea what to do with the stone mix. They started by getting down on the floor and applying some to a piece of heavy cardboard.

Always do a test on a separate surface first, Bailey advised, so you can practice your technique and also get an idea of what the finished product can look like.

"Make sure you like it before you put it on there," she warned.

The stone mix goes on like cake frosting, though it's applied with a trowel rather than a spatula.

Hold the trowel at an angle and slather it on, Bailey demonstrated. Don't apply the layer too thick though, she cautioned, and try to make it as even as possible.

Then wait 20 minutes or so and touch the surface lightly and randomly with the trowel to make some peaks, she said. Smooth the peaks slightly to create the texture you want.

Let the stone surface dry overnight; then paint it. A standard premixed colored glaze works well, Bailey said, or you can mix any color paint with a clear glaze. The Morhacks used a colorwash glaze applied with a paint pad that handles two colors simultaneously.

After some practice strokes, Andrea was ready -- with Bailey's tutelage -- to tackle the niche in the hallway.

After a few minutes of "frosting" the niche, Andrea was ready for a change.

"I want to nail," she said.

So Craig climbed on the ladder and applied stone mix while his wife learned the fine points of cutting, measuring and nailing up a chair rail.

Bailey returned to the Morhacks' home several times to help, simply because she loves doing faux finishes.

Dale left the pair to their own devices with no qualms. They took good notes, he said afterward, and "seemed to be able to understand and carry on by themselves."

FROSTING ON THE CAKE

Even without professional guidance, the project isn't that complicated.

The faux technique isn't particularly difficult, Bailey said, though some people take to it more easily than others. Still, she said, "anybody who wants to do this can do this."

Andrea, who early on got her fill of "frosting" the niche, gave her artistic abilities free rein on the medallion.

"Andrea did a heck of a job on the medallion," Bailey said approvingly. It coordinates with the new chandelier and is done in the same colors as the column: a dark, rich red with silver highlights. The couple hope to buy a new dining-room suite so that everything will match up well.

The project was not without challenges, however.

Though applying the stone was more time-consuming, the chair rail turned out to be more difficult than expected.

"At first, the nails were too long to hammer into the studs," Andrea said, "so we had to go buy shorter nails."

Also, the walls weren't perfectly straight, so the molding for the rail and frames didn't always sit flush against the wall.

"We did a good job of covering that up with caulk though," she confided.

The difficulties certainly didn't deter them.

"Doing this project," Andrea said, "makes me inspired to start working on other rooms in the house."